Rob McGregor

Valentine

Goldentone

Rob is the singer-guitarist behind Gainesville’s Grain (and before that, the Moles) who has had a hand in the recording of a very large chunk of this town’s punk rock and alternative records. Grain, and Rob’s solo work, is hard to quantify — hard rock with almost equal doses of alt-country and punk might put you in the ballpark, but still doesn’t really do it justice.

Rob’s last solo release had a goodly portion of tear-in-my-beer old school honky-tonk type country, with the remainder being rock that Grain fans would have been comfortable with. Valentine is more a rock record, even though the themes of lost love and life on the outside continue. This stuff is so good, accessible without being trendy, I don’t how to explain why you can’t turn on the radio without hearing it. And “My Hand” is the funniest “love song” you’ve heard in years. Includes chords so you can play along at home!